Tips and Tricks for Domestic Sanity - Cabinets Pt. 1

I have a secret.  I post my two favorite baking recipes inside my kitchen cabinets.  Awhile ago, Darling said, "you're amazing, who just decides to make biscuits for dinner and 15 minutes later there are hot, buttery biscuits on the table?"  Sigh - now you know why I call him "Darling."  How could I not?

I digress.

The secret to my success with getting biscuits on the table is several years ago I wrote out the recipe (and it's doubled and tripled self) on a piece of paper and stuck it on the inside of cabinet door.  Now, when I want biscuits, I open the cabinet to the glasses and voila, there it is.  I did the same with my tweaked pancake recipe.  The base recipe is on the inside of the cabinet and I adjust the flour/grains every time I make it, based on what I have available.

So there.  My secret's out.  Use it for your own good.  Recipes you love that make your family happy should go where you can find them easily.  And who cares what the inside of your cabinets looks like?  If anyone knows you well enough to come into your home and look for her own glass, she should know you well enough to not care about your "notes to self."

The evidence:

Cheap Meat Chili

Prep Time: 15 min.
Cook Time: 30 min.
Total Time: 45 min.


What You Need:
1 tbsp butter
3 roasted, seeded, chopped Hatch green chilis (or 1 -4 oz.can chopped green chilis)
1 Cup cooked black beans (spiced like these)
1 -10 oz. can Rotel
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. cumin powder
2 tsp. salt
several good grinds of pepper
1 -14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 -14.5 oz can tomato sauce
~1 lb cheap, cooked beef (like these leftovers)
grated cheddar or monterey jack cheese
sour cream


What You Use:
4 qt saucepan, with cover
wooden spoon



What You Do:
1. In a saucepan over med. high heat, melt butter.
2. Add chilis and beans.  Saute until you smell the chilis, then cook another minute.
3. Add diced tomatoes.  Stir well.
4. Stir in all spices. This makes HOT chili, reduce if necessary.  Let cook for a couple minutes.
5. Add tomato sauce and Rotel.
6. Cook until sauce is starting to bubble.
7. Stir in beef.
8. Cover, reduce heat to low, let simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Beans, chilis and butter.  Should smell go-ooood.  If it doesn't, chili may not be your thing.  Just sayin'

The tomato-based crew.

The spice team.

The chilis, beans, spices, and diced tomatoes.  Stir it up and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors meld.

The leftover meat from the Cheap Cuts Spicy Short Ribs.

Cheese and sour cream aren't just for purty decoration: They're to cool the whole mess down so your mouth doesn't explode.  Darling likes his chili hotter n' hot, so I make it that way.  I like mine with some heat, but need the cheese and sour cream to smooth it out.  If you're not a heat-loving family, reduce the chili powder and cumin to 1 Tbsp or even just 1 Tsp.  It's your chili.  You're the cook for you family.  Make it yours.  My recipe's just a guide for you.  As my Mom says, "an old recipe is like a good friend, you can take liberties with it."  I hope you treat my recipes like good friends.

~ G

Beans!

Black beans - or any dry bean, really - makes a great, frugal pantry staple.  Periodically, I cook up a whole bag, cool, and freeze in 1 and 2 cup portions.  They make welcome additions (or stretchers/fillers) in chili, meatloaf, salads, burritos, enchiladas, soups, with rice or just by themselves.  How do I make them?  Like this:

What You Need:

1 - 16 oz. bag dry black beans

1/3 - 1/2 Cup dry spices* (salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder)

water

What You Use:
4 qt. saucepan, with lid
large spoon
strainer
lidded storage container
freezer bags

What You Do:
1. Rinse the dry the beans. Sort the beans to remove anything that doesn't look like a firm, black bean.
2. Drop sorted, rinsed beans in saucepan.
3. Dump spices on top of beans. Mix well. You're looking for good coverage on the beans. Let sit for 30 minutes. This allows the spices to cling better to the beans, which means tastier beans.
4. After 30 minutes, cover the beans with water. The water needs to cover the beans by at least 2 inches.
5. Bring beans to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for one hour. You'll know the beans are done when they're tender and starting to split.
6. Drain beans. DO NOT RINSE.
7. Place beans in lidded storage container.  Let cool for about 20 min, then slide into fridge.
8. For freezer storage:  Only use beans cold from the fridge.  Label freezer bags with the date (including month and year) and measurement of beans (1/2 Cup, 1 Cup, 2 Cups).  Measure out beans and place in labelled bag.  Squeeze out air and seal.  Beans keep in the freezer for a couple months.

*The truth is I don't really measure my spices here.  I go by aroma.  If it smells good, I stop dumping in the spices.  Helpful, aren't I?  For the beginner, I'd say use ~1 Tbsp each of salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder.  Cumin adds depth and a smoky flavor.  Chili powder adds heat.  These are your beans, so season to taste.  When in doubt, stick your finger in the mix and taste.  Keep in mind the final flavor will be muted, so if it's mild to you now, it'll be even milder when finished cooking.

Rinse the beans thoroughly, removing little rocks and bits that aren't good, firm-looking beans.

The spice team.

Dump spices on the beans.

Yep, you want this much coverage.  Stir them up and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  Letting the spices dry a little on the wet beans helps the flavor.  If you add water now, you'll have more flavor in the water than in your beans.

Add the water.  Cover beans with 2 inches of water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for 1 hour.

When the beans are done, your pot will look as if it's holding industrial sludge. Drain the beans in your strainer but do NOT rinse or you'll wash away all their delicious goodness.  After draining, place them in a lidded storage container.  Let them cool about 30 min on the counter, then lid up and place them in the fridge to cool completely before bagging, tagging, and freezing.  If they aren't completely cold from the fridge, the hot moisture will cause condensation in the freezer bag - which means ice crystals all over your beans.  So, cool them completely.  It might take a whole day in the fridge before they're cool enough to freeze.  I usually cook my beans one day and freeze the next.  They'll keep in the fridge for 4-5 days, so no rush.  

~ G

Lasts

I've been thinking a lot about "lasts" lately.  You know - the "last" time you do something, see something, talk to someone - just "lasts," in general.  Yes, this is another one of those emotional posts.

Maybe it's been on my mind because Little One is getting bigger?  I know the last time I ever pick her up to carry her on my hip is coming.  My favorite hip-carry age is around 15 mos.  They're big enough to carry comfortably and they (my kids, at least) hold on tightly with their arms and knees.  I love it.  She's getting bigger and bigger and more independent and soon, before I realize it, she'll not want to be carried.

Maybe it's on my mind because I have a friend who's very sick and I have another friend who recently lost a friend?  Maybe it's on my mind because I had lost touch with my friend who passed recently?  Do we ever really know the last time we will talk to someone or write a letter to them or the last voice message they'll leave?

Maybe it's because another "last" crossed my mind?  A few years ago, a friend called while my parents were in town.  At the time, we lived thousands of miles from my parents and we hadn't seen them in a year.  I answered the phone, told her my parents were in town and said I'd call her back, and promptly forgot to call for a few weeks.  When I finally called, her number was disconnected.  Don't even ask how low I felt.  Years later, we connected briefly and she told me she had called that day to tell me her husband had left her and their kids, left them in crippling debt with no home or vehicle, and she needed to tell me she and the kids were moving in with her parents.  She had masked her voice well because, from her tone, I thought she was calling just to chat.  Had I known how badly she needed to talk that day, I would have excused myself and ducked into a quiet room and listened for hours. That was over ten years ago.  It doesn't weigh on me like it used to, but I've definitely learned to ask, "Anything going on or can I call you back?"  That was a big "last" that led to a big lesson.

Anyway, I've been thinking about lasts and how they can slip by without notice.  They slip by until one day you realize that moment was a last moment.  Maybe it's on my mind today because I've been noticing the passage of time and taking note of the preciousness of it?  Maybe it's just gloomy and gray outside today and I'm feeling maudlin?

It can be crippling, this "lasts" thing.

~ G

The Cheap Cuts - Beef - Spicy Short Ribs

Remember that freezer full of beef we bought? The freezer full that included some cheap, annoying cuts?  We have many, many packages of short ribs.  A super-easy, dry heat method of cooking them makes them tender and ready for other meals.

Spicy Short Ribs

What You Need:
~1/2 Cup total barbecue sauce, mustard
1 Tbsp (or more) Cayenne pepper

Short Ribs

What You Use:

small mixing bowl

roasting pan

aluminum foil 

lidded storage container

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Choose your spices, measure, and mix in small mixing bowl.  

3. Rub spice mixture into both sides of the beef.

4. Lay short ribs in roasting pan.

5. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.  If you want more browning, do not use foil tent.  If you don't want more browning, use the foil tent.  If you want a little browning, use the foil tent for the first 1 hour and 45 minutes.

6. Remove roaster from oven, cover with foil for 15 min. You can use your foil tent for this, just smoosh it closer to the meat.  

7. Remove meat from bone and set aside into a lidded container.

The makings for a tasty sauce.

Mix it all up.  Yep, it'll look... questionable.

The beef.  Pay no attention to the Little Caesar's Crazy Bread package.  The kids got pizza last night because Darling and I had a date.  Little One decided to "help" me take pictures.  Couldn't bring myself to crop it.

Slathered short ribs, almost ready for the oven.

Foil tent.  I wanted flavor more than a crust, so I tented the ribs for the first 1 3/4 hours.

Cutting up the ribs.  I think we had some with dinner, while the rest of the meat got pulled off the bone for chili.

Tomorrow's chili will taste amazing.  Slow cooked meat in chili is a winner!  Keep your eyes open for my Cheap Meat Chili recipe.  

~ G

Top 10 dumbest things said about the Arizona immigration law | Washington Examiner

Top 10 dumbest things said about the Arizona immigration law | Washington Examiner

Sprinkler Time

I am woman.  I can fix things.  Ha ha ha ha ha.

Bought a house with a sprinkler system.  Green thumb inspiration hit and felt urge to plant a flower bed.  Planted a shrub in front of a sprinkler head.  Shrub grew.  Sprinkler head height couldn't surpass the shrub to get water to the grass.  Grass struggled, barely cheated death.  Tried installing a riser for sprinkler head to get water to grass.  Riser and sprinkler head spent summer watering house more than grass.  Various methods of tightening riser and sprinkler head failed.  House well-watered, grass still struggled.  Decided to rip out shrub, remove riser and aim sprinkler at grass.  Hopefully, grass will grow again.

Saga in Pictures:

See bare spots?

Long riser, already removed and sprinkler head replaced.  Photos of before and whole process not available as green thumb covered in mud and soil.  

Done!  Riser gone.  Sprinkler head happily nestled back in bed.

~ G